1. As all the blessings of God in
paradise flowed through man to the inferior creatures; as man was the great
channel of communication, between the Creator and the whole brute creation; so
when man made himself incapable of transmitting those blessings, that
communication was necessarily cut off. The intercourse between God and the
inferior creatures being stopped, those blessings could no longer flow in upon
them. And then it was that "the creature," every creature, "was subjected to
vanity," to sorrow, to pain of every kind, to all manner of evils: Not, indeed,
"willingly," not by its own choice, not by any act or deed of its own; "but by
reason of Him that subjected it," by the wise permission of God, determining to
draw eternal good out of this temporary evil.

2. But in what respect was "the
creature," every creature, then "made subject to vanity?" What did the meaner
creatures suffer, when man rebelled against God? It is probable they sustained
much loss, even in the lower faculties; their vigour, strength, and swiftness.
But undoubtedly they suffered far more in their understanding; more than we can
easily conceive. Perhaps insects and worms had then as much understanding as the
most intelligent brutes have now: Whereas millions of creatures have, at
present, little more understanding than the earth on which they crawl, or the
rock to which they adhere. They suffered still more in their will, in their
passions; which were then variously distorted, and frequently set in flat
opposition to the little understanding that was left them. Their liberty,
likewise, was greatly impaired; yea, in many cases, totally destroyed. They are
still utterly enslaved to irrational appetites, which have the full dominion
over them. The very foundations of their nature are out of course; are turned
upside down. As man is deprived of his perfection, his loving obedience
to God; so brutes are deprived of their perfection, their loving
obedience to man. The far greater part of them flee from him; studiously avoid
his hated presence. The most of the rest set him at open defiance; yea, destroy
him, if it be in their power. A few only, those we commonly term domestic
animals, retain more or less of their original disposition, (through the mercy
of God) love him still, and pay obedience to him.

3. Setting these few aside, how
little shadow of good, of gratitude, of benevolence, of any right temper, is now
to be found in any part of the brute creation! On the contrary, what savage
fierceness, what unrelenting cruelty; are invariably observed in thousands of
creatures; yea, is inseparable from their natures! Is it only the lion, the
tiger, the wolf, among the inhabitants of the forest and plains -- the shark,
and a few more voracious monsters, among the inhabitants of the waters, -- or
the eagle, among birds, -- that tears the flesh, sucks the blood, and crushes
the bones of their helpless fellow-creatures? Nay; the harmless fly, the
laborious ant, the painted butterfly, are treated in the same merciless manner,
even by the innocent songsters of the grove! The innumerable tribes of poor
insects are continually devoured by them. And whereas there is but a small
number, comparatively, of beasts of prey on the earth, it is quite otherwise in
the liquid element. There are but few inhabitants of the waters, whether of the
sea, or of the rivers, which do not devour whatsoever they can master: Yea, they
exceed herein all the beasts of the forest, and all the birds of prey. For none
of these have been ever observed to prey upon their own species:

Saevis inter se convenit ursis:

Even savage bears will not each other tear.

But the water-savages swallow up all, even of their own kind,
that are smaller and weaker than themselves. Yea, such, at present, is the
miserable constitution of the world, to such vanity is it now subjected, that an
immense majority of creatures, perhaps a million to one, can no otherwise
preserve their own lives, than by destroying their fellow-creatures!

4. And is not the very form, the
outward appearance, of many of the creatures, as horrid as their dispositions?
Where is the beauty which was stamped upon them when they came first out of the
hands of their Creator? There is not the least trace of it left: So far from it,
that they are shocking to behold! Nay, they are not only terrible and grisly to
look upon, but deformed, and that to a high degree. Yet their features, ugly as
they are at best, are frequently made more deformed than usual, when they are
distorted by pain; which they cannot avoid, any more than the wretched sons of
men. Pain of various kinds, weakness, sickness, diseases innumerable, come upon
them; perhaps from within; perhaps from one another; perhaps from the inclemency
of seasons; from fire, hail, snow, or storm; or from a thousand causes which
they cannot foresee or prevent.

5. Thus, "as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; even so death passed upon all men;"
and not on man only, but on those creatures also that "did not sin after the
similitude of Adam's transgression." And not death alone came upon them, but all
of its train of preparatory evils; pain, and ten thousand sufferings. Nor these
only, but likewise all those irregular passions, all those unlovely tempers,
(which in men are sins, and even in the brutes are sources of misery,) "passed
upon all" the inhabitants of the earth; and remain in all, except the children
of God.

6. During this season of vanity,
not only the feebler creatures are continually destroyed by the stronger; not
only the strong are frequently destroyed by those that are of equal strength;
but both the one and the other are exposed to the violence and cruelty of him
that is now their common enemy, -- man. And if his swiftness or strength is not
equal to theirs, yet his art more than supplies that defect. By this he eludes
all their force, how great soever it be; by this he defeats all their swiftness;
and, notwithstanding their various shifts and contrivances, discovers all their
retreats. He pursues them over the widest plains, and through the thickest
forests. He overtakes them in the fields of air, he finds them out in the depths
of the sea. Nor are the mild and friendly creatures who still own his sway, and
are duteous to his commands, secured thereby from more than brutal violence;
from outrage and abuse of various kinds. Is the generous horse, that serves his
master's necessity or pleasure with unwearied diligence, -- is the faithful dog,
that waits the motion of his hand, or his eye, exempt from this? What returns
for their long and faithful service do many of these poor creatures find? And
what a dreadful difference is there, between what they suffer from their
fellow-brutes, and what they suffer from the tyrant man! The lion, the tiger, or
the shark, gives them pain from mere necessity, in order to prolong their own
life; and puts them out of their pain at once: But the human shark, without any
such necessity, torments them of his free choice; and perhaps continues their
lingering pain till, after months or years, death signs their release.